Six Nittany Lion men's tennis players are currently in Blacksburg, Va., for the 2000 Rolex East Regional Championships, one of the more prestigious individual events of the fall collegiate tennis season.

Head coach Jan Bortner and assistant Toby Simpson accompanied six Penn State players to the event, which got underway yesterday at Virginia Tech's Burrows-Burleson Tennis Complex.

Seniors Damon Accardi and Matt Nielsen, junior Jamie Gresh, sophomore Matt Frakes, and freshmen Roddy Cantey and Todd Stecko are attending.

A selection committee from the Eastern College Athletic Conference invited the participants.

Senior number one singles player Steve Van Der Westhuyzen was invited, but was forced to withdraw because he is suffering from mononucleosis.

It is widely regarded among the collegiate tennis world as an honor to participate in the Rolex tournament, and to have six players invited from one school-- the maximum allowed-- speaks volumes for where the Penn State program currently stands.

"It shows we are one of the top teams in the East," junior Chris DeStefano said. "It is a reflection of how well we performed in the fall.

"All of the best talent from the East will be there, the top players from all the schools in the region."

Thirty-two teams are represented at the Rolex Regionals.

Accardi and Nielsen will be paired in doubles, and are not playing singles at the tournament.

Each of the other Penn State players is part of the singles draw, with Gresh and Cantey forming a second doubles team.

In first round action completed yesterday, Cantey won his match over Columbia's Pavle Jefferson 7-5, 6-2. He advances to round two today against #30 seed Stefan Paulovic of Cornell.

Stecko lost a tough match to Brown's Jamie Cerrentani 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, and Frakes was eliminated by Steve Prisco of UMass 6-3, 6-4.

Gresh, the 16 seed, was awarded a bye into the second round and will face off against Andy Burdette of Army at 12:30 this afternoon.

In doubles action, Accardi and Neilsen defeated a team from Robert Morris, 8-2. They advance to play the #2 seed from Army this afternoon.

Gresh and Cantey received a first-round bye.

The event is the last of the fall season for the Nittany Lions, who after this weekend face a two-and-a-half month long sabbatical until the spring season-- and the team and Big Ten play that comes with it-- begins at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.